THE RANKINGS SO FAR - No. 15 - The class of 2011 | No. 14 - The class of 2012 | No. 13 - The class of 2015 | No. 12 - The class of 2005 | No. 11 - The class of 2004 | No. 10 - The class of 2014 | No. 9 - The class of 2003 | No. 8 - The class of 2010

From Dave Wannstedt's final class at Pitt, we move to the No. 7 class on the countdown of classes from 2003-17 but we stay in the Wannstedt era with the class he signed the year before his final season.

The class of 2009.

The class of 2009 had 20 players in it and ranked No. 47 nationally despite having a quartet of four-star prospects. Those four were offset by five two-star prospects at the bottom of the class, and in a small class, that can affect the rankings quite a bit.

Here's what the class of 2009 looked like.

We said that Pitt signed four four-star prospects in the class and that was true, but there are some caveats in there. Like Todd Thomas: he was a four-star prospect coming out of Beaver Falls High School, but he had academic issues and had to attend prep school in 2009 instead of going to Pitt. So he's part of this class, but his presence in the group doesn't help in these rankings.

Of the other three four-star prospects, Jack Lippert never really panned out as a four-star defensive line prospect who later moved to the offensive line, and Penn Hills star linebacker Dan Mason showed flashes of brilliance but saw his career take a step back when he suffered a severe knee injury as a sophomore.

Additionally, while the class had four four-star prospects, Pitt also missed on three other WPIAL recruits who had four stars: Gateway's Corey Brown and Dorian Bell and Jeannett's Jordan Hall.

All three of those players went to Ohio State, and while they didn't have great careers in college, the perception of landing top WPIAL recruits is an important one, and Pitt missed on those three.

More relevant, of course, are the players who did go to Pitt, and the Panthers got some key contributors in the class of 2009. The group was led by Dion Lewis, a three-star running back from New Jersey who was overlooked due to his size - Wannstedt even needed some convincing - but became one of Pitt's all-time leading rushers. His freshman yardage total of 1,799 ranks No. 2 in school history and he finished his career at Pitt ranked No. 4 in career rushing - not bad for only playing two years.

The 2009 class also included Devin Street, whose consistency and longevity had him at the top of Pitt's all-time receptions list (although Tyler Boyd would pass Street on that list a few years later). And safety Jason Hendricks was quietly one of the better defensive players Pitt has had in the last decade. He was a three-year starter and led Pitt in tackles in 2012 and 2013 - the last Panther to lead the team in tackles in consecutive seasons.

Street and Henrdricks, in particular, make the 2009 class look better now than it did on Signing Day. Both were two-star recruits and both out-performed that ranking by a considerable margin.

Beyond Lewis, Street and Hendricks, the 2009 class also produced starters in Tyrone Ezell, Ray Graham, Ryan Schlieper, Cory King and Shane Gordon. That's not a list of heavy-hitters, necessarily, but the class had a nice mix of stars and depth.

And for the players who stuck it out, the class of 2009 also bore the brunt of the coaching changes: signing with Wannstedt, surviving through Michael Haywood and Todd Graham and lasting until Paul Chryst.